It will be difficult to judge the book from the movie, as more people are familiar with the latter, but both are masterpieces, for similar reasons. The book takes the form of what is essentially an epistolary novel, a series of letters, first written by Celie to God, then letters from her sister, which her brutal husband hides from her, to the letters Celie writes to her sister Nettie once she discovers them. It is the story of personal discovery, for many of the characters, not just the main protagonist. It is Dickensian in its description of travesty: there are few tragic themes which do not appear within, including rape, incest, murder, untimely death, estrangement and appalling abuse, but the glory is in the struggle. Another key theme is redemption, and the power of the individual to rise above their circumstance.
For me, reading fiction allows the opportunity to project oneself into the story with the characters, but this world is not one in which anyone would want to be. That said, there is still surprising humor and levity, like life, which provide meager flashes of light in total darkness. The relationships between the characters, their finding themselves in others, are a particular highlight. Some have stated that this is a powerful feminist novel, drawing on the power of sisterhood and the bonds, even sensual ones, that develop between women. It illustrates in the most powerful way imaginable that inner strength, once found, can move mountains.
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...have you ever found God in church? I never did. I just found a bunch of folks hoping for him to show. Any God I ever felt in church I brought in with me. And I think all the other folks did too. They come to church to share God, not find God.
For me, reading fiction allows the opportunity to project oneself into the story with the characters, but this world is not one in which anyone would want to be. That said, there is still surprising humor and levity, like life, which provide meager flashes of light in total darkness. The relationships between the characters, their finding themselves in others, are a particular highlight. Some have stated that this is a powerful feminist novel, drawing on the power of sisterhood and the bonds, even sensual ones, that develop between women. It illustrates in the most powerful way imaginable that inner strength, once found, can move mountains.
---------Favorites---------
...have you ever found God in church? I never did. I just found a bunch of folks hoping for him to show. Any God I ever felt in church I brought in with me. And I think all the other folks did too. They come to church to share God, not find God.
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